Robertson, who faced backlash following remarks he made about gay people in an interview with GQ published at the end of last year, will speak Thursday at the annual GOP event to be held this year in New Orleans, La.

Robertson will be speaking on the first day of the 3-day event—the same day as RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Nebraska senatorial candidate Ben Sasse.

Robertson, the patriarch of the family featured on the the A&E series, was briefly suspended by the network in December following the magazine’s publishing of his controversial remarks on homosexuality. Many conservatives at the time—including Jindal—defended Robertson’s freedom of speech.